New Behind-the-Scenes Video Shows How The Hobbit's Smaug Came to Life

One of the most impressive elements in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was the massive, titular dragon himself. A new video gives an up-close look at the beast and details the labor intensive process behind his creation.

The video reveals some impressive stats, including how Smaug's photo-real reptilian body is adorned with over one million unique scales, each of which had to be hand designed. Also, Smaug is the size of two jumbo jets.

If you've seen any of Peter Jackson's video production diaries you may have caught a glimpse of Benedict Cumberbatch, who voiced Smaug, doing face and body motion-capture work. This new video explores that process in depth, showing how the facial structure of a human actor was adapted into that of the monstrous Smaug.